Wall lighting unit



Oct. 31, 1961 s. M. MILLS, JR

WALL LIGHTING UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 28, 1957 ltlll-vlllllllllllllllllll Invervtov. SamueL M.MiLLs J11, b3 6 His AFtdrovne Oct. 31, 1961 s. M. MILLS, JR

WALL LIGHTING UNIT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 28, 1957 hwven tov. Samuel, M. MiLLs drt, 1:99

H15 A t tor'neg United tates Patent 3,007,036 WALL LIGHTING UNIT Samuel M. Mills, Jr., Willoughby, Ohio, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 28, 1957, Ser. No. 680,770 2 Claims. (Cl. 2402) The present invention relates generally to indirect lighting equipment and more particularly to a wall lighting unit which can be used as a lighted valance, a lighted wall bracket, or a lighted cornice.

An attractive illuminating scheme for the rooms of dwellings comprises mounting tubular fluorescent lamps horizontally along the tops of the windows with an opaque or semi-opaque baffle or faceboard provided in front of the lamps to shield them from direct view. Such arrangements, commonly referred to as lighted valances, are generally placed some distance down from the ceiling and give both upward and downward lighting. On the wall areas in between the windows over which the lighted valances are located, the same lighting pattern may be continued by means of lighted wall brackets to supply a wash of light on the walls. Lighted wall brackets are excellent for balancing the lighting from a valance; that is, when a valance is mounted on an outerwall over a window, a corresponding lighted wall bracket may be mounted on an inner wall to give a balanced effect. In low-ceilinged rooms, the fluorescent lamp and channel and the faceboard may be mounted on the ceiling above a wall area. Such an arrangement is known as a cornice and because all light is directed downward, the wall is emphasized and gives an impression of greater height.

Although the installation of lighted valances and wall units and cornices is relatively simple, the comparatively high cost of the prefabricated units has prevented wide adoption for home lighting. On the other hand, home construction of the valance faceboards from lumber or suitable building materials has not found much favor, probably due to the amount of labor involved in cutting, fitting, painting and installing.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved wall lighting unit which can be adapted for use as a lighted valance or as a lighted wall bracket or as a cornice and which is light in weight and easy to install.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a light and inexpensive faceboard adaptable for use in a lighted valance or wall bracket or cornice and which can be provided in modular lengths and installed to give an illusion of continuity.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a simple and convenient mounting scheme for lightweight faceboards embodying the invention.

In accordance with the invention, a faceboard for a wall lighting unit is made from lightweight relatively rigid or at least semirigid plastic with formed edges in transverse section providing a girder effect whereby to achieve suitable rigidity and also to serve as a decorative edge or molding. The faceboard is supplied in modular lengths, for instance in 2, 3, or 4 foot lengths and as many as desired are joined and supported at the joints by suitable splicing brackets to give the desired overall length of lighted valance or wall bracket.

According to a feature of the invention, the splicing brackets may engage the faceboards through the rigiditying beads or channels at the edges. These same beads or integral moldings may be used to retain a decorative insert of patterned, textured or perforated material against the faceboards and extending in a continuous length from end to end of the lighted valance or wall bracket. When used, the decorative insert covers up the joints in the faceboards except at the integral beads or moldings where the joints are hardly noticeable.

3,007,036 Patented Oct. 31, 1961 ice For further objects and advantages and for a detailed description of examples of wall lighting units and faceboards embodying the invention, attention is now directed to the following description and accompanying drawings. The features of the invention believed to be novel will be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of a wall lighting unit embodying the invention with portions of a modular length of faceboard cut away to show the construction.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view through the same faceboard used in a cornice and showing a single piece mounting bracket therefor.

FIG. 3 is a pictorial view of another wall lighting unit using a faceboard and mounting bracket embodying the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a lamp holder clip for supporting a faceboard mounting bracket.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are fragmentary sectional views of other faceboards embodying the invention.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, the illustrated wall lighting unit comprises a wiring channel or raceway in the form of an elongated rectangular housing 1 provided with a cover 2 on its underside. The cover is removable for wiring purposes; it snaps on and is held in place by locking tabs. The housing 1 may be fastened to the plaster wall 3 in any suitable way, for instance by means of bolts provided with expandable wing nuts as shown at 4 in FIG. 2. The channel is equipped with lamp holders 5 of the standard tombstone bipin type fastened by screws 6 and accommodating fluorescent lamps 7. The channel 1 may conveniently be in 2, 3 or 4 foot lengths or combinations of these extending continuously over the desired length of wall. The drawing shows an end channel 1 of the valance with its lamp 7, and part of the adjoining channel 1' and its lamp 7', the lamp holders 5, 5 on adjoining channel ends being placed back to back. Where the wall lighting unit extends over a window, a drapery traverse track 8 may be fastened to the underside of the metal channel or to the cover 2 as shown for supporting drapes to be drawn across the window opening at night.

In accordance with the invention, the faceboard extending horizontally in front of the lamps and shielding them from direct viewing comprises one or more units 9,

9 etc. joined end to end and supported at the joints by brackets 11, 11 etc. The faceboard units are provided in modular lengths, for instance in 2, 3 or 4 foot lengths; unit 9 in the drawing has been foreshortened by the removal of a central portion along the fracture lines at 12. When installed, the faceboard units meet on the centers of the brackets: for instance, the right edge of unit 9 at 13 on the vertical centerline of bracket 11 is contacted by the left edge 14 of unit 9', the latter unit being shown displaced to the right in the drawing for purposes of illustration.

The faceboard units consist of relatively lightweight plastic sheet material having either rigid or semi-rigid characteristics. Preferably an opaque or at least a semiopaque plastic material obtainable in a white color is used. The need for painting white at least the inner side of the faceboard next to the lamps in order to reflect light efliciently is thereby avoided. A material which I have found suitable is a white polystyrene of 0.06" thickness. This material is thermoplastic and may be obtained in flat sheets and vacuum formed or extruded to the illustrated configuration provided with integral beads or moldings 15 along its upper and lower longitudinal edges. These integral moldings, in addition to being a decorative feature,

waviness, and also provide a convenient engagement means for the brackets 11 in supporting the units.

The particular molding or integral head shape or configuration which has been selected is generally rectangular but tapered or constricted toward the open or rear side in the manner of a keystone. It includes outwardly directed transverse portion 16 which makes an acute angle at 17 with the vertical wall portion, as best seen in FIG. 2. This particular configuration provides a convenient means for fastening the faceboard unit to the correspondingly shaped spline blocks 18 on supporting brackets 11. As illustrated in FIG. 1, each supporting bracket may comprise an inner vertical portion 20 which is wedged between the channel 1 and the wall 3, a horizontally extending portion 21 reaching over the channel, and a vertically depending outer portion 22 at the upper and lower extremities of which are fastened the transverse spline blocks 18. Due to the conforming keystone cross section of the integral moldings 15 and of the spline blocks 18, and by reason of the relatively lightweight of the faceboards, the pair of spline blocks at each end of the modular faceboard units are sufficient to support them and to maintain contiguous units in alignment.

A decorative insert 24, preferably made of a semi-rigid material may be fitted against the front of the faceboard units and is retained in place by the inclined portions 16 of the integral moldings. The insert may be patterned, textured or perforated as desired. Preferably it should be provided in a continuous length or roll suitable to reach from end to end of the wall lighting unit without any breaks; it is creased and folded around the end returns if there are any. The decorative insert then covers up'the major part of the joints between modular faceboard units at the brackets, leaving only the joints in the integral beads exposed and these are hardly visible to the casual observer. If a plastic material is to be used, vinyl or polystyrene sheet of 0.02 inch thickness is suitable. In addition to plastic materials, a decorative fabric, for instance the same fabric as is used for the draperies in the case of a valance unit, or a decorative-wall-paper may be used for the insert. In such case, the fabric may be wrapped around a reasonably stiff backing such as a plain white plastic insert or a length of cardboard; if wall-paper is used, it may be glued to the backing and overlapped at the edges; the covered backing is then positioned between the integral moldings.

Where the wall lighting unit extends from end wall to end Wall, it may be necessary to cut one of the modular units to size. With the lightweight plastic material used'in accordance with invention, this may readily be done with shears or knife and without need of a saw or other carpenter tools.

To close the ends of the wall lighting unit of FIG. 1 where the faceboard does not extend all the way to a transverse wall at right angles to that against which the wall lighting unit is attached, an end return unit 25 may be used. The end return is molded from the same plastic material and to the same general configuration as faceboard units 9 including the integral beads or moldings 15. The end return isprovided with a short transverse portion 2 6'which butts against faceboard unit 9, and a body portion extending from the plane of the faceboard to the wall. The short transverse portion 26 is retained on spline blocks 18 of bracket 11 the same fashion as faceboard unit 9, whereas the body portion extending to the wall has its end accommodated on an end bracket 27 fastened to the wall and provided with shorter spline blocks 28. It will be appreciatedthat the decorative insert is preferably taken from the wall and over the end return, folded around the corner, and then continued all the way to the far end of the wall lighting unit without any breaks or joints.

Where the faceboard units 9 are to be used for a cornice along-the upper corner of a wall, they may be supported with the top molding 15 up against the ceiling 30 by means of brackets 31 as illustrated in FIG. 2. Expandable wing nut and bolt 4 holds lamp channel 1 against the ceiling. The bracket may be wedged between the channel and ceiling and may be additionally secured by a screw 32. The entire bracket may be formed from a single sheet metal piece and'comprises a step at 33 to provide space for the upper lip of integral molding 15 between the bracket and the ceiling. Portions 34 and 35 of the brackets correspond to the upper and lower spline blocks which have been described with reference to brackets 11 of FIG. 1. The generally keystone cross section of these portions accommodate and retain the integral moldings along the edges of the faceboard-s. A decorative insert 24 may be used with the faceboard units inthe same way as previously described with reference to FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown another embodi ment of the invention utilizing a faceboard of a cross section more readily adapted to extrusion rather than vacuum forming as in the embodiment of FIG. 1. The faceboard comprises a main vertical or face portion 41 provided along its upper and lower margins with integral moldings 42. Each molding comprises a transverse end portion 43, a molding portion 44, and inner and outer bead portions 45, 46 spaced from the face portion 41. The transverse end portion and the molding portion are decorative features and also serve the functional purpose of rigidifying the panel. The inner bead portion 45 serves to retain decorative insert 24 in place against the face portion 41 of the faceboard. The outer head portion 46 accommodates and overlaps a bracket plate 47 which is used to join adjacent modular faceboard units and to support them in place. A springy clip 48 (shown displaced at 48) may be spot-welded to the back side of bracket plate 47 to engage head portion 46 and additionally secure the faceboard unit.

The bracket plate 47 may be supported by a conventional bracket fastened to the wall in the manner of that illustrated in FIG. 1, or if desired it may be supported by lamp holder clip 49 illustrated in FIG. 4. Clip 49 is designed to be attached directly to the conventional tombstone type bipin lamp holders 5 commonly used with fluorescent lamps. In external configurations, such lamp holdersinclude a projecting bar-like body of uniform and generally rectangular cross section with suitable slots on the inward faces of a pair for the purpose of accommodating the terminal pins at the end of the lamp. The clip comprises a channel-shaped body portion 59, of approximately the same width as a conventional tombstone type lamp holder, and provided with inturned flanges 51 having an extended arm 52 at their 'base ends. The extended arms 52 are provided with two holes for accommodating a long screw '53. When the clip is to be used over a single lamp holder, the inside holes are used for fastening it down on the lamp holder. When the clip is to be used over two lamp holders placed back-to-back, the outer holes are used. The wide oval-shaped aperture 54 in the body portion of the clip allows the lamp pins to project therethrough into the rear-facing lamp holder, that is, lamp holder 5 in FIG. 3.

It will be appreciated that in the case of a molded faceboard unit the cost of the dies is relatively high and for that reason it is desirable to use the same cross section for both the faceboards and the end returns. In

the wall lighting unit of FIG. 3, the faceboard 40 and the end return 55 are of identical cross section. They are joined together by means of a right angle bracket plate 56, and the end return is attached to the wall by means of a similar bracket 57. The gap in the integral beads at the corners may be closed by means of a. corner plug 5-8.

If it is desired not to show the integral beads in the wall lighting unit of FIG. 3, thefa'ceboard units may be turned around and the integral beads placed on the ini side facing the lamp or wall. With this arrangement, the bracket plate is accommodated by the inner bead portion 45 and the decorative insert may have its edges accommodated in the outer bead portion 46. A flat face is then presented towards the room which may be preferred for certain decoration schemes.

FIGS. and 6 illustrate other cross sections of extruded faceboard. the integral bead is convex and similar to a quarterround molding. In FIG. 6, the molding portion 60 of the integral bead is concave and similar to a cove molding. The inner and outer bead portions 45, 46 serve the same functions as described with reference to FIG. 3 and are used in the same way.

While certain specific examples of wall lighting units and faceboards embodying the invention have been described in detail, the same are intended as illustrative examples and not in order to limit the invention thereto except as specified in the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A wall lighting unit comprising a pair of spaced tombstone lamp holders for accommodating a horizontally extending tubular electric lamp, each lamp holder including a laterally projecting. body portion, a horizontally extending shielding member located in front thereof, said shielding member comprising a relatively thin lightweight elongated faceboard of at least semiri-gid material, said faceboard being uniform in cross section throughout its length and provided with integral beads along its margins serving to rigidify the unit, brackets for supporting said faceboard having portions engaging said integral beads on the rear side of said faceboard whereby to present a smooth unbroken front, and lamp holder clips engaging the laterally projecting body por- In FIG. 5, the molding portion 59 of tions of said lamp holders and supporting said brackets.

A wall lighting unit comprising a pair of spaced tombstone lamp holders for accommodating a horizontally extending tubular electric lamp, each lamp holder including a laterally projecting bar-like body of uniform and generally rectangular cross section, a horizontally extending shielding member located in front thereof, said shielding member comprising a relatively thin lightweight elongated faceboard of at least semi-rigid material, said faceboard being uniform in cross section throughout its length and provided with integral beads along its margins serving to ri-gidify the unit, brackets for supporting said faceboard having portions engaging said integral beads on the rear side of said faceboard whereby to present a smooth unbroken front, and lamp holder clips engaging said lamp holders and supporting said brackets, each lamp holder clip comprising a genera-lly channel-shaped member having inturned flanges accommodating the bar-like body portion of a lamp holder and clamping means for fastening it to the lamp holder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,336,723 Bennett Apr. 13, 1920 2,004,262 Widman June 11, 1935 2,320,463 Pavlovic June 1, 1943 2,569,518 Deutsch et a1. Oct. 2, 1951 2,621,765 Wood Dec. 16, 1952 2,708,711 McGinty et al. May 17, 1955 2,812,600 Hopp Nov. 12, 1957 2,837,150 Toti June 3, 1958 2,862,459 Robbins Dec. 2, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 543,058 Belgium Dec. 15, 1955 

